Formula 1

Williams signs Alex Albon for Formula 1 return in 2022

Alexander Albon will make his Formula 1 comeback with Williams next year after being signed by the team to replace George Russell.

Luke Smith

Edited: Sep 9, 2021, 8:42 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Alex Albon, Williams

After being dropped from Red Bull’s senior team at the end of the 2020 season, Albon has spent this year serving as its reserve driver, as well as racing in the DTM.

Red Bull revealed last month that it was working on a deal to secure Albon an F1 return, either at Alfa Romeo or Williams after both teams had expressed an interest in signing the Anglo-Thai driver.

Williams announced on Wednesday that Albon would be racing alongside Nicholas Latifi next year, with the Canadian returning for a third season.

“I am really excited and looking forward to returning to a Formula 1 race seat in 2022,” Albon said.

“When you take a year out of F1 it’s never certain you will make a return so I’m extremely thankful to Red Bull and Williams for believing in me and helping me on my journey back to the grid.

“It’s also been great to see all the progress Williams have been making as a team this year and I look forward to helping them continue that journey in 2022.”

Albon replaces Russell for next year, whose move to Mercedes was finally announced on Tuesday after Valtteri Bottas’s switch to Alfa Romeo was revealed one day earlier.

Albon scored two F1 podiums with Red Bull through 2020, having joined the team midway through the 2019 season after an impressive start to his F1 career at Toro Rosso.

“It is fantastic to be able to confirm our driver line-up for 2022 and I am delighted to be welcoming Alex to the team, along with confirming our continued relationship with Nicholas into next year,” said Williams CEO Jost Capito.

“We are extremely excited by our new line-up, with both drivers bringing a great blend of youth and experience that will not only be a great fit for the team but also help us take the next step in our journey.

“Alex is one of the most exciting young talents in motorsport, yet comes with a large amount of F1 experience from his time at Red Bull. His multiple podium finishes highlight his speed as a driver, and we know he will immediately feel at home with the team at Grove.

“Nicholas meanwhile has consistently impressed us over the past three years with his hard work, diligence, and positive attitude. He has continued to develop throughout his time at Williams and has grown into an impressive F1 driver, as seen by his points scoring finishes this season.

“We are now looking forward to continuing to build on our positive momentum as a team and finishing this season as strongly as possible, before turning our attentions to 2022.”

Read Also:

George Russell to drive for Mercedes F1 team in 2022

It is understood that Albon will retain a link the Red Bull family next year, the team commenting: "We have released Alex to become a Williams Racing driver in 2022 but retain a relationship with him that includes future options."

Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner added: “We rate Alex very highly and with our line-up for 2022 fixed, our objective was to help find him a seat in another team where he could gain more F1 mileage and experience and we are delighted to have done that with Williams Racing.

“Alex has been a hugely valuable asset in his role as our test and reserve driver this year, helping bring performance from the simulator to the car each weekend, but for his career it was important not to spend another season out of an F1 race seat.

“With his place on the grid next year secured, we are delighted to see him realise this opportunity and we will be following his progress closely.”

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Horner: Zandvoort atmosphere "like being in a nightclub for three days"

Next article Red Bull released Albon for Williams seat but has ‘future options’

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Did Haas make the correct decision in signing Rafael Camara for F1 2027?

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

23 min

Did Haas make the correct decision in signing Rafael Camara for F1 2027?

Frederik Vesti steps up to full-time role as Cadillac Racing details 2027 IMSA lineup

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 30 min

Frederik Vesti steps up to full-time role as Cadillac Racing details 2027 IMSA lineup

Rafael Camara to replace Esteban Ocon at Haas for F1 2027

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

38 min

Rafael Camara to replace Esteban Ocon at Haas for F1 2027

Cadillac signs Ricky Taylor, Antonio Felix da Costa in refreshed 2027 WEC line-up

WEC

WEC WEC

Barcelona

1 h

Cadillac signs Ricky Taylor, Antonio Felix da Costa in refreshed 2027 WEC line-up

Feature

Discover prime content

Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Ronald Vording

Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?

Rwanda turns to F1 as it moves forward from a chequered past

Formula 1

By Filip Cleeren

Rwanda turns to F1 as it moves forward from a chequered past

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

Formula 1

By Autosport

Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts